Mark 6
Rejection in Nazareth (Mark 6:1-6)
Jesus returned to Nazareth, where he grew up, and began preaching in the synagogue the following Sabbath. Those who knew him from childhood were shocked. They could not understand how a simple carpenter’s son could become so wise and do miraculous works. This implies that Jesus kept his knowledge and wisdom to himself while he was growing up in Nazareth.
While he is called the carpenter’s son, the wording indicates that Joseph is no longer alive, though his mother, Mary, his brothers, and more than one sister continue to live in the area. This passage indicates that Mary had more children after Jesus.
They are offended by Jesus’ obvious advancement over them. They were envious and too proud to be taught by someone they had known so long and who came from humble origins. The problem is that their familiarity with Jesus inbred contempt for him.
As a result, Jesus did few miracles among them. It is not that he was unable to do miracles, but that miracles were done to serve a purpose (John 20:30-31). Because these people would not believe any evidence presented, there was no reason to offer what would be rejected. It wasn’t that they didn’t know about the miracles because they mentioned them as they disparaged the Lord. But those miracles confirmed what they refused to believe, so instead of softening their hearts, they became angry with the one who forced them to face the unacceptable. Since few believed in Jesus' miracles in other places, few approached Jesus for healing.
Their reaction even puzzled Jesus. As a result, Jesus left and began teaching in the towns of the region.
The Sending of the Twelve (Mark 6:7-13)
Jesus did not leave the problem with just words. He sent his disciples into action (James 2:14-17). They had followed him and learned enough from him that they could teach on their own. He gave them abilities to do miracles; thus, supporting their teachings with evidence of the power of God. They had graduated, in a sense, from being disciples (students) to apostles (ambassadors) of Jesus.
The disciples were not to take extra supplies for their journey. They were to take basic necessities and not to bring spares.
As they entered a town, they were to stay with one family while in that town and not to shift lodgings from house to house as if they were discontented. If the apostles were not accepted, they were to shake the dust off of them as they left; that is, since they were refused, they would not accept anything from the city, not even its dust (Nehemiah 5:13; Acts 13:51; 18:6).
After giving them instructions, Jesus sent them on their way. The message they spread was one like John's, a call for repentance. As they preached, they cast out demons and healed sick people, showing that God supported the message they were bringing.
The Death of John (Mark 6:14-29)
News about Jesus has been spreading throughout Judea, so it is not surprising that the word of Jesus eventually reached the ears of the rulers. When Herod heard of Jesus and the miracles that he was performing, Herod was certain that John had risen from the grave to haunt him. Others were telling him that Jesus was Elijah or one of the other prophets risen from the grave or possibly even The Prophet mentioned by Moses (Deuteronomy 18:18). Herod knew John was dead, but he remained convinced that John had returned.
John had been in prison because Herodias, Herod’s wife, was offended when John stated that her marriage to Herod was not legal. Antipas married his half-brother Philip’s wife, who was herself a daughter of Berenice and Philip’s half-brother Aristobulus. In other words, Herodias had married her uncle. Philip had been disinherited by Herod the Great and was living in Rome. By the way, this is not the Philip mentioned in Luke 3:1, but another son of Herod who had the same name. On a visit to Rome, Antipas ran off with Philip’s wife and his niece. According to the Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Commentary, “Herod Antipas' own wife was the daughter of Aretas, king of Arabia; but he prevailed on Herodias, his half-brother Philip's wife, to forsake her husband and live with him, on condition, says Josephus [Antiquities, 18.5,1], that he should put away his own wife. This involved him afterward in war with Aretas, who totally defeated him and destroyed his army, from the effects of which he was never able to recover himself.”
What John had declared is clearly taught in the Old Testament. A man is not allowed to marry his brother’s wife (Leviticus 18:16; Leviticus 20:21). Herod himself was initially angry with John as well and would have put him to death, but John’s popularity with the people and the fact that the people held him to be a prophet caused him to stay his hand. Mark reveals that Herod was also afraid of John. However, as John remained imprisoned, Herod took the time to talk with John and enjoyed his discussions with him. He did many things for John but did not leave his sins. Perhaps Herod thought of bribing John into acceptance of his marriage; if so, it did not work.
At some point, Herod had a birthday, and a large party was held. Leading men from all of Galilee attended. Herodias’ daughter, whom we know from history to be named Salome, performed a dance as part of the entertainment. While we can’t know for sure, it is easy to speculate that there must have been drinking at the party and that Salome’s dance was sexually appealing because of the foolish response of Herod. He offered Salome anything she wanted, up to half his kingdom. The girl wasn’t certain what to ask for, but her mother prompted her to ask for the head of John the Baptist. It seems strange, but this girl rushed back to Herod and made the request her mother told her to make. She probably knew that if she waited until the guests were gone, Herod would try to avoid fulfilling his promise.
The request grieved Herod because he had come to respect John. However, he could not get out of the matter without breaking his word before many nobles who had witnessed what he had said. He was in a tough position. Religiously, he had made a vow, rash and foolish though it was. Politically, he wanted to be seen as a man of his word else those he dealt with would never trust him. He knew he needed to appease his stepdaughter and her mother for his home life to be peaceful. But worse, he just didn’t want to tell Salome, “No.” He was a weak-willed ruler and father. According to the history books, it is a small wonder that his country and family life were in constant turmoil. Understanding this event helps us to see why he and the other rulers of his time were willing to let Jesus be put to death, though he had done no wrong. The sad thing is that if Salome had asked for a part of his kingdom, he probably would have sought some way to wiggle out of the situation, but when it came to one man’s life, even the life of a holy man whom he admired, Herod gave in without much fuss.
Herod immediately had John beheaded and gave the girl what she wanted. She, in turn, gave John’s head to her mother.
When John’s disciples heard of this misdeed, they claimed John's body and gave him a decent burial.
The Feeding of Over Five Thousand (Mark 6:30-44)
The apostles had returned to Jesus after their journey through the region. They excitedly told Jesus all that had happened to them and what they had taught the people while they were gone. Jesus suggested that they leave the crowds for a time to get some rest. The bustle of the people was so great that no one even had time to eat.
Jesus left his current location by boat for a deserted, mountainous area near Bethsaida. It must not have been too far away because the multitude he was avoiding guessed where he was going and arrived there on foot before he could get there by boat. From the description of their travels in the next lesson, it appears the area was southeast of Bethsaida. Seeing their determination and recognizing how much they needed guidance, Jesus was moved by compassion to teach them again. A count of just the men showed about five thousand men present, but this count didn’t include the women and children who were also present.
As the day passed and evening approached, the disciples suggested that Jesus send the crowd away so they could search for food in some of the villages in the area. But Jesus told the disciples it wasn’t necessary; the disciples could feed them. This seemed incredible to the disciples. It would take at least 200 days' wages to feed such a large crowd, and even then, everyone would only get a small amount. Even buying and bringing back such a large quantity of food seemed daunting.
Jesus sent them to see how much food they had. Andrew found five loaves of bread and two fish that a young boy had brought, but that was all the food available. This wasn’t even enough to feed them, let alone a multitude. It wasn’t worth offering it to the people. But Jesus asked them to bring the food they found. He told everyone to take a seat. They sat in fifty groups of one hundred men each. After blessing the food, he distributed the bread and fish to the disciples, and they, in turn, distributed them to the multitude.
After everyone ate their fill, they discovered they had twelve baskets of food left over.
The miracle that Jesus did is reminiscent of the miracle of the flour and oil done by Elijah (I Kings 17:8-16) and the miracle of the oil done by Elisha (II Kings 4:1-7). The difference is the scale on which this was done and the number of witnesses to the event.
Walking on Water (Mark 6:45-52)
Jesus sends the disciples away in the boat to go to Bethsaida while he dismisses the crowd and goes alone into the mountains to pray. Likely, the disciples were to pick up Jesus after he crossed the mountains. However, the winds were against them, and by the fourth watch -- from 3 a.m. to 6 a.m. -- they were still on the lake. The sea had become very rough, and the distance meant that turning around was not an option.
Jesus saw his disciples' troubles and walked out across the lake. He would have passed them by, but the disciples spotted him and assumed they were seeing a ghost. Jesus called out to them, “Take courage; it is I, do not be afraid.”
As Jesus climbed into the boat, the storm immediately stopped. Those in the boat were astonished. Mark notes that the disciples had not learned from the feeding of the five thousand.
Healings in Gennesaret (Mark 6:53-56)
Instead of going immediately to Capernaum, Jesus and the disciples passed Capernaum and headed to Gennesaret.
When they arrived, the people recognized Jesus and brought their sick to him. Jesus and the disciples moved through the region's villages, healing the people. Some begged even the privilege of touching his garment, and those who did were healed. The fact that people wanted to touch the hem of Jesus’ garment tells us that word of his healing of the woman with the hemorrhage had spread across the country.
